Is data from Alexa accurate?

I created a spreadsheet of other websites in my niche that I might be able to purchase solo ads from. And I added in data about all these sites from Alexa:

their global rank

their bounce rate

how long people spend on their site

the number other sites linking to them

I thought I could use that data to figure out the best sites to purchase solo ads from - ones with high global ranks. And the more traffic they get (links from other sites) obviously the better. The bounce rate and how long people stay on the site on average is helpful too to see how long they stick around.

But, somebody told me that Alexa isn't accurate. Is that just the global rank that isn't accurate? What about the other data? Is there some other free tool I can use instead that is accurate? (I don't use Chrome, I use Firefox and IE btw) I heard about SEO Quake for Firefox, but it looks like it gets data from Alexa.

If you want to measure data only for that group of people who have the Alexa toolbar active and running (mainly marketers and SEOs), it should be fine as a comparative tool.

Exact numbers? Not so much. Their numbers are estimates based on statistical modeling of the group of people with the toolbar installed and actively running.

As for using that data to differentiate between ad sellers, good luck with that. I've not done any formal study or testing, but I would doubt that there is much correlation between website traffic (measured in the raw) and the effectiveness of email ads to a list of opt-in subscribers (likely a smallish subset of that traffic).

A better strategy might be to make a small test buy from each likely source. Repeat with another test buy from the winners to see if it repeats. Invest 90% of your solo ad budget with the winners of the second round. Use the other 10% to continue testing additional sources.

I checked my websites' data (Google Analytics) against that of Alexa and it's not even remotely correct. However, I expect it to be more reliable for large sites because they will then have collected enough data from their Alexa toolbar.

Alexa data are roughly estimated data and doesn't posses any validity. For accurate data metrics you may try Google Analytics.

I have set up Google Analytics for my website, not that I really understand how to use it. So far I hate it because I'm getting a lot of fake traffic that you have to keep filtering out. And I thought it was just for your site - how would you use it to gather this kind of data for other sites?

The Google Keyword Tool is not 100% accurate either, but it doesn't matter because you can still use it to compare one keyword to the next. Is Alexa like that? Because if so, while the numbers might not be 100% accurate, it should still be fairly accurate relative to one site to another (when comparing) - if you know what I mean. In other words - would the sites with the lowest global rank still be the most popular sites on the spreadsheet even though all the numbers are not 100% accurate? Since I'm just trying to narrow down who to contact about solo ads wouldn't it be good enough for my purposes?

I kind of skimmed through that confusing document. It sounded like none of them were accurate, but someone from Alexa did comment to tell him he didn't do it right. They even explained how he should have done it to get a fair comparison.

I would doubt that there is much correlation between website traffic (measured in the raw) and the effectiveness of email ads to a list of opt-in subscribers

Well my thought was that the global rank would help me to see which of the sites were the most popular and if they have more traffic and links going to them they might have a larger list of subscribers compared to sites that have less. And therefore more people would see my solo ad.

considering your purpose for using Alexa... was this the only way you wanted to find good solo ad partners?

Yeah, I don't really want to mess with solo ad networks or facebook groups. I rather contact people directly myself then go through a network where everybody's hitting them up for a solo ad. With facebook groups, I hear some of them have false testimonials.. I figure such a spreadsheet would save me a lot of time and quickly show me who the big dogs are in the niche. And then I could try out some of those.

Will you do the same for joint venture partners

I don't see why you couldn't. If you're going to joint venture with people in your niche, why not do so with some that have a big audience? The spreadsheet would help to see which sites have the biggest reach. Of course I'd joint venture with people that I followed and who I liked rather they were at the top of my list or not, but it certainly is a plus if they have a larger audience. I'm currently not ready for joint ventures just yet though.

Your comparison of alexa with the google keyword planner is way off. The data in the keyword planner is coming directly from the source since Google owns that data and knows exactly what it is. The data from alexa is coming from third party sources - the people with the toolbar installed - and not only does not have any source data but has a very skewed population of users. Alexa data is not useful at all for your intended purpose.